Whippersnapper: Battle victory comes at a cost as one Poe gets shot

Published: January 30, 2012 12:00AM

By PAUL LOCHER

Staff Writer

CONGRESS TWP. -- As Adam Poe struggled to drag his wounded brother to the shore and prevent him from swimming after Bigfoot's body to take the Indian's scalp, the other members of the rescue party they had come with arrived at the shore of the river.

They immediately recognized Adam, but not Andrew. Thinking Adam was fighting with an Indian who was trying to drown him, three of the frontiersmen took careful aim and fired at Andrew, who they supposed was attacking Adam. One of the shots went through Andrew's collarbone and his shoulder.

After dragging him back to the shore, Adam cleaned Andrew's wound by poking a silk handkerchief into the hole and pulling it completely through. Andrew was then carried back to his horse, along with fellow rescuer John Cherry who had been shot through the lung during the successful rescue of the abductee. While the group was returning to the settlements, Cherry died from his wound.

For the settlers it was a bittersweet victory. They had killed Bigfoot, as well as three of his brothers and two of his young friends, but a courageous frontiersman had been killed and Andrew Poe's life hung in the balance.

No scalps were taken by the whites and the only souvenir of the deadly fight was the tomahawk that was used to wound Andrew. It was picked up by Adam and eventually handed down through generations of the Poe family. It is a tomahawk that incorporates a pipe, with a seven-and-a-quarter-inch long head and a two-inch blade.

The only Indian survivor of the event was a man named Scotash, who later became a Christian convert. Scotash was wounded in the hand during the fight, but managed to swim across the river and hide in the brush.

After darkness fell, he built a raft, returned to the scene of the conflict, and recovered the bodies of his slain companions, except for Bigfoot, whom the river had carried away. He buried his companions on the Ohio side of the river and returned to his village.

Andrew Poe survived his wounds and on July 15, 1781, he was made constable of Robinson Township, Washington County, Pa. He held that office until 1784 when he moved to Beaver County. He died of natural causes on July 15, 1823, at age 83.

When the Ohio lands were opened for settlement, one of the first people into the area was Adam Poe, always looking for new adventures and a new frontier. Leaving his native Pennsylvania, he settled on the west fork of the Beaver River in Wayne Township, Columbiana County, purchasing several quarters of land.

Here, too, Adam Poe would add to the Indian fighting lore that surrounded his life.

Sources: "History of Wayne County, Ohio" by Ben Douglass; Wikipedia

Wednesday: Poe's other Indian encounters

Reporter Paul Locher can be reached at 330-682-2055 or plocher@the-daily-record.com.